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Second Half 2016 NYC Investment Sales Report

The New York City investment sales market experienced stable activity and a moderate dip in total consideration (monetary value for recorded transactions) in the second half of 2016 compared to the second half of 2015. The total amount of transactions for all five boroughs was 2,880, which was 11 transactions, or one percent, less than the second half of 2015. Total consideration was $26.8 billion; a decrease of $7.5 billion, or 22 percent, from second half of 2015, which included two multi-billion dollar transactions (Stuyvesant Town / Cooper Village and 11 Madison Avenue). Despite this difference, the second half of 2016’s citywide consideration and number of transactions showed resilience year-over-year.

Key Findings

Manhattan investment property trading continued to outpace the other boroughs in the second half of 2016, completing $17.0 billion of sales consideration, which accounts for 63% of total citywide consideration. Total consideration is 28% less than the second half of 2015, when Manhattan observed $23.8 billion in total consideration. The number of transactions in Manhattan decreased to 652 in the second half of 2016, a 6% dip from 612 transactions in the second half of 2015.

Queens experienced increased investment activity, where 649 transactions were completed. The number of transactions in Queens rose 6 percent since the second half of 2015, when 612 transactions occurred.

Staten Island investment activity showed robust gains year-over-year. 273 transactions closed in the borough, up 31% from 208 transactions in the second half of 2015.

The five largest investment sales transactions (by sale price) that closed in the second half of 2016 were the:

$1.15 billion sale of a minority stake in the office building 1095 Avenue of the Americas

$707 million sale for a portion of the office building 501 West 30th Street, also known as 10 Hudson Yards

$652 million sale for a 50 percent stake in the Olympic Tower at 641 Fifth Avenue, which includes two adjacent retail buildings at 647 and 649 Fifth Avenue

$620 million sale for a 894-unit multifamily rental complex at 500 Second Avenue

$565 million sale of the office building at 1240 Broadway

Sales Activity by Borough

Staten Island recorded increases in total consideration and the number of transactions in the second half of 2016 compared to the second half of 2015. The rise in Staten Island’s total sales consideration was driven by three property sales that together, accounted for 45 percent of the borough’s total dollar consideration in the second half of 2016. The transactions were the: $122 million sale of a vacant site at 500 Bloomfield Road, $52 million sale of a multifamily rental elevator building at 141 Park Hill Avenue in Concord-Fox Hills, and $51 million sale of a vacant site at 2250 Bloomfield Avenue. The number of transactions rose 31% since the second half of 2015, to 273 from 208.

Total consideration in Queens rose slightly to $3.54 billion from $3.53 billion, while the number of transactions increased six percent to 649 from 612 year-over-year. Investment sales activity in Queens has steadily grown over the past two years. Fifty six percent of citywide industrial-categorized property sales took place in Queens. The highest-priced sale for a property in Queens was $258 million for an industrial building at 31-00 47th Avenue in Long Island City.

In Brooklyn, property sales classified as Garages, Gas Stations, and Vacant Land rebounded year-over-year in total consideration to $802 million from $653 million in the second half of 2015. Eleven more garages, gas stations, or vacant land transactions occurred since the second half of 2015 to reach 198 transactions in the second half of 2016. Sales of Garages, Gas Stations, and Vacant Land in Brooklyn accounted for 37 percent of citywide consideration in this property category. As a whole, total consideration in Brooklyn decreased 13% to $4.4 million from $5.0 million year-over-year. The number of transactions decreased 6% to 954 from 1019 in the second half of 2016 compared to the second half of 2015. The highest-priced Brooklyn transactions, closed in the second half of 2016, were the $345 million sale of a 135,000-square-foot parking lot in DUMBO and the $340 million sale of the Watchtower portfolio, which includes: 29 Columbia Heights, 51 Furman Street, and 67 Furman Street.

Bronx investment sales activity and dollar consideration slowed in the second half of 2016, posting 392 transactions, 8 fewer transactions (-3%) since the second half of 2015, and $1.4 million in total consideration, $350 thousand less in total consideration (-19%) since the second half of 2015. The highest-priced Bronx transaction, closed in the second half of 2016, was the $110 million sale of a three-building portfolio of nursing homes located at 2545 and 2553 University Avenue and 100 West Kingsbridge Road. (Nursing homes are categorized as “Other” properties.)

Manhattan investment property trading continued to outpace the other boroughs in total consideration and number of transactions. However, the borough saw a 28 percent decrease in consideration falling to $17.0 billion in the second half of 2016 from $23.8 billion in the second half of 2015. Transactions decreased six percent year-over year to 618 from 652 in the second half of 2015.